GUILTY MO - Donnie, 64, Sharon, 61, & Taron Luetjen, 15, slain, Camp Cole, 7 June 2009

[milopedes]

When cops entered the residence about 5:15 they discovered 15 year-old Taron Luetjen (b.), and her grandparents Sharon Luetjen, 61, and Donnie Luetjen, 64, bound and lined up next to each other.....shot.

I'm not saying it is impossible, but it struck me that each was bound before shot. Maybe two people involved? Or then again, maybe the suspect held the gun while one person bound two of the victims, then he bound the third.

Why bind the hands? If you are there to kill, just do it and leave. Was there torture? Or, maybe once the victims were bound the perp hung around for a "conversation" (i.e., attempt to convince them to give money, etc.).

Binding, to me, implies that the perp was around for awhile before the victim's were killed.

 

[jnTexas]

I'm betting Grandma and Grandpa have another son...

 

[milopedes]

I'm betting Grandma and Grandpa have another son...

Go on, I'd like to hear your theory.

I don't know about a son, but I think they had a daughter. In one of the links posted an aunt was interviewed . . . and I don't think they were talking about the biological mother's sister.

 

[jnTexas]

Go on, I'd like to hear your theory.

I don't know about a son, but I think they had a daughter. In one of the links posted an aunt was interviewed . . . and I don't think they were talking about the biological mother's sister.

If they had a son or a daughter they would stand to inherit the money. With the 15 yr old out of the way they would not have to share the inhertiance.

It is going to be someone close unless they are like some older people and keep the money in their home. then it could be anyone that heard about the money. Which is alos a good possibility since they were bound. Maybe the perp was trying to get the location of the cash out of them.

 

[milopedes]

If they had a son or a daughter they would stand to inherit the money. With the 15 yr old out of the way they would not have to share the inhertiance.

It is going to be someone close unless they are like some older people and keep the money in their home. then it could be anyone that heard about the money. Which is alos a good possibility since they were bound. Maybe the perp was trying to get the location of the cash out of them.

I believe your first thought is what most of us were thinking from the get-go, I was more curious why you felt it was a son rather than a daughter who may have convinced her husband or boyfriend to commit the crime.

As for the second paragraph you wrote, this could very well be true on many levels. When my uncle died he had all his money in a shoebox underneath his bed. Granted, he was old enough to have lived through the Great Depression. So maybe they kept their money in the house since they were older, and with all the recent bank failures, maybe they also didn't trust placing a large sum (we don't know the amount) in a bank?

Then again, it is just as plausible that a relative committing the crime for money would bind the victim's hands in an effort to throw off the authorities.

I just can't help but think that there isn't any more obvious motive than a trail of money. And when I ask myself, "Can anyone really be that stupid?"; invariably, the answer always turns out to be a resounding "yes". So sad.

 

[gaia227]

Cole Camp is a teeny town isnt it Kathee? I remember stopping there for a few supplies on the way to my friends lakelot. I hope LE has the resources needed to investigate this fully.

On a side note pertaining to post #6, I personally can't stand KCTV 5 news. They border on sensationalism to get ratings IMO. I used to live in Independence and they had a big feud with our police dept.

Most Missouri small towns are close nit communities, I def. would look outside of Cole Camp.

The way they were killed, IMO points to money. I'm sure you understand why I am saying that.. I just can't find a way to express nicely why I don't think it was random. Makes me sick to my stomach.

Cole Camp is tiny - population less than 2,000. The closet bigger city would be Sedalia. It is also not too far from Columbia where the Univ. of MO is.

I think it is interesting they were tied up before being shot. If it was someone they knew - that person would have been invited in and they would have had the element of surprise when they opened fire. If it wasn't someone they knew then it makes more sense to me that the killer bound them first although I still don't see why it was necessary if the motive was to execute them. If the motive was burglary and the killer thought for some reason there was money on the premise they could have bound them to get information out of them. If you go into a house with two elderly people and a teenager with a gun with the intent to kill them I just don't see the point in tying them up before shooting them but maybe that is the killer's way of feeling like they had control. Unfortunately, most people will comply with what the killer says and not try to escape or fight back in hopes they will be spared.

At first I thought it was someone close to the family but the more I think about the fact they were bound makes me think it wasn't someone they knew at all or it was an acquaintenance or someone (unprofessional) hired them to kill these people for inheritance.

 

[gaia227]

Hi - I am guilty this time of not reading the comments before I posted. I see that you guys have also been discussing the fact they were bound and what significance that has. Great minds think alike, eh?

 

[Kathee]

You called the bio mother and asked her where she was at the time of the murders??????? Isn't that crossing a boundry as we aren't detectives we are only people interested in cases presented here?

Yes, I am a freelance reporter.

The Luetjen's have a daughter, Debbie.

 

[PoorPaulaNNJ]

The bio mom has long record of arrests for bad checks. If you put in quotes "case net" on Google, you'll get the search site for Missouri records. Use her last name of Luetjen and Debra for first name.

 

[Megs]

The bio mom has long record of arrests for bad checks. If you put in quotes "case net" on Google, you'll get the search site for Missouri records. Use her last name of Luetjen and Debra for first name.

So, is that bio mom, or the Luetjen's daughter, Debbie? If it is their daughter, that would be a huge motive.......

 

[PoorPaulaNNJ]

So, is that bio mom, or the Luetjen's daughter, Debbie? If it is their daughter, that would be a huge motive.......

It's the Bio mom. She's Debra Lynn, and the daughter is Debbie with married last name Armenta.

 

[Soulmagent]

I don't care what this woman says - the courts don't just turn over custody to someone other than the mother for no real good reason.

Let me guess (excuse my cyncism) - she has 7 other children with like 4 different dads, right?

Actualy the courts do turn custody over for no real good reason, could of been something as simple as the mom worked full time and the grandparent could be home all day ,or the kids school would remain the same or someone has an unemotional lawyer verses and emotional mother defending herself after having lost her husband in car accident . Remember not all mothers who dont have custody of their kids are bad moms ,that isnt even what it is supposed to be about it is about the best interest of the child,which to the court could mean a great number of things.

 

[SuziQ]

The bio mom has long record of arrests for bad checks. If you put in quotes "case net" on Google, you'll get the search site for Missouri records. Use her last name of Luetjen and Debra for first name.

I thought the bio mom's last name is Kost?

 

[Lindadanette]

Hi folks! There are at least a couple of Luetjen boys on Case Net that have drug arrest records who live in or around the area of the murders.

 

[jnTexas]

Hi folks! There are at least a couple of Luetjen boys on Case Net that have drug arrest records who live in or around the area of the murders.

that is exactly what I'm afraid of

 

[Kathee]

Funeral services for three Benton County residents found murdered in their home on Tuesday have been announced.

The service for Donnie and Sharon Luetjen and their granddaughter, Taron, will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 14, 2009, at the Cole Camp R-1 Gynmasium with visitation to follow.

 

[SuziQ]

Luetjen Family Releases Statement

http://www.komu.com/satellite/Satel...4c70b769/dcac9f25-80ce-0971-0021-6f11bb498bd4

Also from the same link:

Armenta is the only remaining child of 64-year-old Donnie and 61-year-old Sharon Luetgen, two of the victims found dead in their home Tuesday. The other was 15-year-old granddaughter Taron. Each suffered a single gunshot wound.

 

[SuziQ]

What press negativity has been out there? I think the press has been very thoughtful regarding this family. Did I miss something? Is she protesting too much?

http://www.komu.com/satellite/Satel...4c70b769/dcac9f25-80ce-0971-0021-6f11bb498bd4

(snip)
We understand the media and press has a job to do and we respect that aspect. Were also greatly disappointed in the trash and negativity that has been portrayed and promoted by the media relating to this tragedy. This negativity is a majority of the reason why we have declined to respond to requests for statements and pictures in the past few days. Some agencies have been doing their homework, while others have been taking the easy way out in the name of investigative reporting. In a few days, we may decide to get into more details, but that is still undetermined at this point. This is not the time or the place.

 

[SuziQ]

Maybe the trash and negativity is referring to article's like the one below. I wish we knew if anything was missing from the home. The artifacts market is a small world. If someone stole them to resell on the market, I think it would stand out.

http://www.kspr.com/news/local/47964541.html

(snips)
“Whether it's a family dispute or robbery, we'll have to wait ‘til the police tell us,” explains Long-time Cole Camp resident EL Eickhoff.

But the police have not told us much.

Eickhoff recalls, “I do know he had a lot of valuable things in his home."

Friends and neighbors have a bit more to tell.

They say Donnie Luetjen had an Indian artifact collection possibly worth a million dollars in his home.

They also say the Luetjens legally adopted their teenage granddaughter Taron years ago, but there was still tension over the custody issue.

Police ask Cole Camp to come forward with that information and any more on the Luetjens' whereabouts before their death.

 

[SuziQ]

Sounds like Saturday night was the last sighting of the Luetjens.

http://www.kspr.com/news/local/47876137.html

(snip)
There’s a good chance a large portion of the town ran into the Luetjens days, possibly just hours, before their deaths.

Downtown Cole Camp was the scene of a community-wide car show Saturday night.

That’s where Andersen ran into the Luetjens.

It's those little details police say may very well help resolve this case.

“If you have that information please come forward, come talk to us, no matter how insignificant you think your information may be,” explains Johnson County Sheriff Chuck Heiss.

Police are not saying whether anything, such as Donnie Luetjen's valuable Indian arrowhead collection, are missing from the home.